Mexicans and the Chicano Movement
A poster calling for a boycott of lettuce and grapes in support of the United Farm Workers; courtesy the Library of Congress
Immigration Reform and Latino Organizing
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, a piece of legislation in the works for nearly 20 years, was the first major change to immigration law in a generation. It was also the first major piece of legislation designed to address the question of undocumented Mexican immigrants. The Act had two major provisions: The first prohibited employers from knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants. The second granted amnesty to any undocumented immigrant who had entered the U.S. before 1982. Heralded as landmark legislation at the time, it did little to stem the tide of illegal immigration.
Over the past 20 years, additional efforts have been made to stop the immigration of undocumented workers. While some measures have achieved initial success, all have ultimately failed.
Two developments in 1994 offered aggressive immigration reform. In October of that year, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) launched Operation Gatekeeper, which provided for greater border enforcement in urban areas. This meant that those seeking to cross the border illegally were forced to attempt it along the dangerous desert area of the southwest border between the U.S. and Mexico. In 2000, about 370 immigrants died in the crossing.